Kerala style Dal Curry / Parippu curry

Parippu  Curry / Dal curry is what we start with for Sadhya - A typical Kerala Rice Meal,
with drops of Ghee/Clarified butter on top, no other side dishes are required with rice if you make this humble but rich lentil dish....reminds me of Onam - a festival in Kerala , that day in a year when home makers compete to make maximum number of vegetable - dishes as possible and we enjoy that meal on a Banana Leaf...
Hot rice on Banana leaf , which cooks the leaf a bit and then the flavors & aroma of that leaf accompanies.

Moong dal  / Cherupayar  is what is used usually , in olden days whole Moong dal / Cherupayar is   dry roasted first then lightly ground to remove the skin and then used to make this dish....that was really some hard work in there , now that we get moong Dal with out its skin , making this dish is really easy.

But I used Red Gram dal  for this curry here with the same recipe how Malayalees makes Parippu Curry / Dal curry.

Ingredients 

Moon Dal/ Toor Dal / Red Gram dal - 1 cup
Ginger - finely chopped 1/2 tsp (Optional)
Green chilies - 2 no's slit
Tomato - 1/2 medium finely chopped -Optional (This is not used traditionally , I use it as it tastes even better with that slight sour flavor)

To Grind 

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Jeera/ Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Small onion - 3to 5 no's (Optional)
Curry Leaves - few leaves (Optional)
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chili's - 2 no's

For Tempering

Coconut oil - 3 Tb sp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Small onion - 3 to 5 no's cut into halves
Dry Red chili's - 2 no's crushed
Curry Leaves - 1 to 2 springs

Method 

* Cook Dal/ lentils with 2 green chili's , ginger and enough water (almost 2 to 3 cups) until nicely done, I used a pressure cooker till 2 whistles heard.
(if not using a pressure cooker , soak dal in water for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour and cook keeping it covered till nicely done)

*Grind to a smooth paste the ingredients given under grinding. (Coconut , Green chili's , Turmeric Powder , cumin seeds/Jeera , curry leaves & small onions if using)

* Slightly Mash the cooked dal with a spoon and add in the ground paste , may add water if its needed , if you need it loose , bring to a boil and switch off the heat.

* Pop mustard seeds in an other pan , saute the chopped  small onions  till golden brown then add dry red chili's and curry leaves and pour this over the dal mixture.

* Serve this hot with rice , drizzle few drops of Ghee on top of that hot rice.

Enjoy !!


Cheers
TN